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All articles by Sara Vordermeier

Two people holding the laptop
Local SEO vs Organic SEO: The Ranking Factors Aren’t the Same, But AI Search Reads Both Before It Recommends You

Local SEO and organic SEO have always run on different ranking factors. AI search doesn't pick a side — it reads both before deciding whether to recommend you.

screenshot of google business profile categories and attributes
Your Google Business Profile Categories Haven’t Changed Since Setup, But Their Audience Has

Google categories and attributes have changed jobs: they are now the structured facts AI search reads when deciding whether to recommend you. Here is how to manage them — per location, at scale.

hand clicking on AI assisted review responses
Reviews Are Franchisees’ Biggest Pain Point — and the One They Least Use AI to Fix

Reviews are franchise locations’ #1 pain point — and the task they least use AI to manage. Here’s how to run franchise review management that works.

UB-I in-platform screenshot with UB-I character
What Is UB-I: The AI Agent That Turns Location Chaos Into Location Performance

UB-I is Uberall’s agentic AI for location performance — an autonomous AI agent that monitors every location, decides what matters most, and does the work.

AI-generated image of bagel shop with franchisee managing local marketing from phone
We Asked 300 Franchises Who’s Winning at AI, and It Wasn’t HQ

Franchisees are ahead of HQ on franchise AI adoption — and that’s not the problem brand marketers think it is. A smarter local franchise marketing approach, backed by new research.

Location marketing performance shown in a dashboard
Location Performance Score: Everyone's Measuring Local Marketing and Almost No One Can Explain What It Earns

Local marketers track everything and can prove almost nothing. Here’s how the Location Performance Score turns scattered metrics into revenue impact.

Webinar promotion banner with SEJ and Reddit and Uberall
Why Optimize Your Own Pages When AI Is Reading Reddit Instead?

A recap of our Reddit × Search Engine Journal webinar: Why Reddit AI search matters, and the five Reddit marketing plays multi-location brands can run to get cited by AI.

screenshot of location data cleansing services in Uberall platform
Brands Are Optimizing Their Listings — But Bad Location Data Means They’re Never Going Live

Dirty data means unpublished listings. Here’s how location data cleansing actually works — and why it’s the most underrated lever in local SEO.

Screenshot of Located-In feature appearing in Google Maps mockup
Located-In Listings: How to Show Up in Search So Customers Turn Up In Store

What happens if your co-located business shares an address but doesn’t show up independently in search? Well, you’re losing customers to a fixable data problem.

screenshots of google searches with AI Mode
I/O, AI, and Oh: How is Google Search Behavior Actually Changing for Local Businesses?

Google search behavior is changing fast, but the panic about losing traffic is missing the point. These local search experts explain what's actually happening — whether local brands should be nervous — and what to do about it.